Jacket Vs Kiryu
Hotline Miami Vs Yakuza! When it comes to outlaws with a sense of heroism, these two certainly have the guts willing to do whatever it takes for justice and bloodshed! Interlude Kurai: The world is unpredictable and unforgiving; fates and lives are constantly changed because of one action, and it can be inexplicably-altered because of it. Sleepy: But clearly there are those that roll with it and make out their own fates and lives, even under these new, surreal and unanticipated changes. Such as "Jacket" the violent vigilante of Hotline Miami! Kurai: And Kazuma Kiryu, the bohemian Yakuza from... Yakuza! Sleepy: Bohemian? Kurai: Synonym of "Maverick". Sleepy: You sure it isn't because of the Queen song "Bohemian Rhapsody"? Kurai: Read a dictionary. Sleepy: Wha- Kurai: We'll be analyzing their arsenals, abilities, feats and weaknesses before simulating a battle scenario! My name's Kurai and he's Sleepy. Without further ado, let's get this show on the road! "Jacket" Sleepy: Is there really anything to talk about for the enigmatic "Jacket"? His name was dubbed by the fans of Hotline Miami because of the fanbase, so in other words: that's only his nickname. Kurai: Jacket does have a history, however; he used to serve in the US Special Forces in a war against the Soviet Russians in... Hawaii...? Sleepy: It's certainly not the most common place to start a war over; moreover, Jacket and his buddy "Beard", whose name was also given by the fanbase, served together until a military operation went horrible and both retired from active duty because of their wounds. Back in Miami, things weren't easy either; Jacket had ominous dreams, where he was visited by three people wearing animal masks... How creepy. "Beard": So, you remember that picture we talked about, from Hawaii? Kurai: They all apparently knew him or knew of him; Don Juan, the woman in a horse mask, sympathized with Jacket; the man in the owl mask, Rasmus, didn't like Jacket, and Richard, the man in the rooster mask, seemed to know Jacket at a more personal level. Regardless, these dreams seemed to be a sort of... warning to Jacket, though these warnings were quite vague. Sleepy: And that's not the end of his troubles; Jacket began unwittingly answering phone calls from different service lines, which would lead into conflict with Miami's Russian Mob, as the locations set out by the callers were actually mafioso operations and hideouts. Even then, Jacket didn't mind, donning an animal mask and using whatever was available to him to wipe out the mobsters. Kurai: Escalated rather quickly, don't you think? Sleepy: Hey, he ain't questioning it. Although to be fair, he doesn't really speak much either... so... Kurai: An animal mask-wearing vigilante with violent tendencies that doesn't talk? I'm sensing a psychopath or a sociopath. Sleepy: It's a good thing he's on the "good guys'" side then. Kurai: Maybe... Maybe not... Jacket is a street fighter at his core; he will fight using any item he can get his hands on; this includes, but is not limited to: pots, baseball bats, golf clubs, and lead pipes. With enough effort, Jacket is strong enough to basically one-shot anyone caught in his path. Sleepy: He's also quite competent with firearms; this is likely due to military training while serving in the US Army, as he can wield all manner of guns: pistols, shotguns, assault rifles, machine guns etc. However, he is at his best in close-quarters, made evident by his expertise in executions: he can quickly clear out entire buildings just by targeting the vital points of a human body with what he has on-hand, which are usually his bear hands anyway! Kurai: And to make his reputation even scarier, you remember those masked people? Jacket actually has his own collection of masks and, with no reasonable explanation as to why, they give him additional enhancements! Sleepy: We're not kidding here, the masks literally give Jacket a menagerie of different bonuses; each mask has their own unique bonus that can make for an unpredictable mob-hunter. The Tony tiger mask gives Jacket the power of faster executions and one-shot punches. Kurai: So he becomes "One Punch Man"? Sleepy: ...Yes. Kurai: Alrighty! The Don Juan horse mask allows Jacket to insta-kill any enemies through kicking doors open; the Earl walrus mask gives him a kind of second chance, as he can survive the first two bullets that strike him, and the Brandon panther mask increases his physical speed! Sleepy: The Rami camel mask gives Jacket more ammunition in the guns he employs, the Louie chameleon mask boosts his stealth capabilities, and the Jake snake mask turns any throwing weapon used by Jacket lethal. He has many other masks, but their abilities are either the weaker versions of the ones already mentioned, give him a starting weapon such as a silenced machine gun, or just carry highly-situational bonuses, such as being "invisible" to attack dogs. Kurai: What about his Richard rooster mask? Doesn't it give him any bonuses as well? It's his most iconic mask! Sleepy: Unfortunately no. However, the mere fact that it doesn't change expression with those hollow eye-sockets is... bonus enough. Kurai: ...You know what... you're right... Starting to feel unnerved by that mask... "Richard": You really enjoy hurting other people, don't you? Sleepy: Let's just move on... Jacket is a monster in combat, and his sociopathic behaviour seems to be mended by only a few things: pizza, VHS tapes, magazines and caring for a girl whom he had rescued from a mansion, the former three of which were given to him for free by Beard, whom he had envisioned to be serving him in different stores. Kurai: That sounds like something out of a Hangover movie. Sleepy: Well... it would help justify his murderous heroism...? I guess...? After all, if Hotline Miami was just a massive drug trip all along, it certainly wouldn't have ended in a nuke destroying the eastern seaboard's cultural hub... Oh right, spoilers... Oops... Kurai: Jacket was able to cleanse Miami of the Russian Mob. Literally! Virtually no trace of their crimes and dealings were left behind in Jacket's bloody wake. He's able to crush human skulls with his legs, and even with his fists; this requires around 2300 newtons of force, which is impossible to accomplish by ordinary standards. Think that's not inhuman enough? How about the time he was able to completely cripple an arsonist just because they pissed him off? Sleepy: Pfft. As if. That's not THAT BAD compared to him clearing out an entire police station of armed officers by himself, and using a golf club to decapitate this biker guy, although the exact canon nature of this is shaky as the same guy reappeared in the sequel. Kurai: He's killed well over hundreds of Russian mafia members, including the elite guard of the mob boss, which consisted of a ninja enforcer and two panthers; considering the fact that panthers come gifted with feline senses and physicality, as well as speed that reaches up to 50 miles per hour, Jacket being able to tag them with a mere gold trophy is wildly spectacular. Sleepy: As for the ninja, she may not look the part-''I mean come on, who wears nothing but sweatpants, a fur coat, a sports bra, and a pair of sunglasses and call themself a ninja''-but she is certainly skilled enough to pass off as one. Heck, she even has an Iaijutsu-based fighting stance, has a katana and uses throwing knives, which can be a good substitute for shurikens. Kurai: Well, her final fate was a lot worse than the panthers'. Sleepy: Yup. Death by blunt trauma via constant face-bashing on the floor. Jacket should be in Mortal Kombat with all of these fatalities. Oh, and he was able to use the same throwing knives that the ninja used to incapacitate the mob boss, all while taking cover under a firestorm of machine gun bullets. Kurai: He may have accomplished a lot for a dude that thinks Halloween is everyday, however Jacket is not unbeatable. Like the people he kills, Jacket is a human, and has all of the human weaknesses and faults. He may have served in the US Special Forces and is capable of crushing skulls with his bare limbs, but he can still die to conventional means: gunshots, blade stabs etc. Sleepy: And surprise! The entire time, Jacket may have been hallucinating all along! Probably signs of PTSD and unspoken drug abuse; might be the former since he clings onto an old picture that he and Beard took together while serving in the Hawaii conflict... And... uh... not to be THAT GUY... but... he did survive a gunshot to the face with just a normal mask... then proceeded to escape from a guarded hospital immediately after waking up from a coma. Kurai: Oh for the love of-Is this guy impervious to conventional means too?! Sleepy: He just might be... and with those eyes... I think the abyss may have finally found it's everlasting host... Did I mention he talks using a tape recorder? Jacket's tape recorder: DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS...? Kazuma Kiryu Sleepy: Kazuma Kiryu's life is not... the most pleasant one, I would say. He started out as basically nothing; an orphan in the far east of Japan. Fortunately, he and his "brother" Akira would be looked after by Shintaro Kazama, who would then indoctrinate them into the life of the Yakuza. Kurai: That's a bit too much, don't you think? Sleepy: It doesn't seem so for Kiryu, as he quickly rose to become a prominent Yakuza within the Tojo Clan. However, this life wouldn't be as constant as Kiryu thought it be... at least by Yakuza standards. Kurai: You see, a Tojo Clan member named Nishki had killed a man named Sohei Dojima, who was a patriarch of the Dojima Clan: a Tojo Clan subsidiary. Because of this, Nishki was to be punished, but because he was needed by his hospitalized sister and because he had killed Dojima in defence of his friend Yumi, Kiryu stepped up to take the blame and was sent to jail for about 10 years. Sleepy: That's honourable if I say so. Kurai: Right, although Kiryu's sacrifice seemed to be in vain; after he was released, he returned to find the Tojo Clan was in utter chaos amidst a financial crisis, and Nishki had become a ruthless and unforgiving leader. Kiryu: Nishiki and I.. We'd been together since we were kids. We were closer than blood brothers. Any debuts Nishiki left are mine to pay now. Sleepy: Kiryu set out to help restore the clan's lost honour. And if that didn't work, he'd just beat the living hell out of all of them, then call it a day. Kurai: Which is what basically what 80% of the Yakuza games are about. No seriously, it's all a bunch of beat 'em up games where Kiryu takes more names and kicks more ass than the amount of times Kurt Russell is a badass in cinema. Kiryu has several fighting styles which he used to beat down rival Yakuza and other street denizens on his journey to restore his clan's reputation. His "Brawler" style is the most basic; it focuses on dirty street fighting, using backhanded attacks such as headbutts, ground-stomps, hard knees and deflecting enemy strikes and following up with more ghetto-style attacks. Sleepy: Ghetto-style? That's the first time I've ever heard you say the word "Ghetto". Kurai: I know right? In regards to being ghetto, the "Brawler" style is effective against recovering opponents and opponents who are trying to pull off a Dragon Ball-esque power-up; remember what I said about being backhanded? This style basically doesn't allow any of Kiryu's enemies to have the chance to gain the advantage against him. Sleepy: If speed is Kiryu's priority, then the "Rush" style is his goto; he chooses not to block or grapple in this mode, but makes up for it by attacking fast and furiously. It's similar to boxing, with a few kicks thrown in here and there; the "Rush" style is all about speed, so dodging and barraging is the primary offensive tactic; it's also excellent when paired with his brass knuckles and when put up against opponents with close-quarters combat weaponry, such as katanas and baseball bats. Kurai: The "Beast/Destroyer" style is all about big attacks, powerful endurance and crowd control; with it, he focuses on heavy strikes, throws and the usage of local objects as blunt weapons. Anything will do, from bicycles to hammers, and alongside his wide array of throws, he becomes a crowd-smashing engine of destruction! He also doesn't choose to block, although he compensates by tightening his stance to ensure minimum knockdowns and less damage taken. Sleepy: But wait... THERE'S ONE MORE! The "Dragon of Dojima" style is his most notable fighting style; it's sort of a mixture of his three previous styles, combining speed, strength and endurance into one powerful package. He has the speed to attack fast, the strength to cause maximum damage as well as the force needed for knockdowns. And like his "Brawler" style, he fights dirty, using as many limbs as possible to ensure total victory. Kurai: There's also his Heat techniques; from his differing styles, Heat techniques are similar to a coup de grace, except without the whole "killing blow" part of a coup de grace. His respective styles' Heats are distinguished by various coloured auras; the blue aura indicates Heats from his "Brawler" style; the pink aura indicates Heats from his "Rush" style; the yellow aura indicates Heats from his "Beast/Destroyer" style, and the red/white aura indicates Heats from the "Dragon of Dojima" style. Sleepy: He also has "Feel the Heat" to gain additional Heat during heated battles, no pun intended. He has access to additional Heat techniques, such as the Hell's Floor submission; the Climax Heat also intensifies his arsenal of Heat techniques with more brutal ones such as the Essence of the Drunken Thirst, where he drunkenly strikes his enemies powerfully enough to send them flying, all while under the influence of alcohol; the Essence of the Dragon King ground-stomp to crush his foes underfoot, and the Ultimate Essence, where he pulls a page from Injustice Superman and unrelentingly punches his enemies in the gut. And because it's Japan, he has an alternate form to enter: the Dragon Spirit. Kurai: The "Dragon Spirit" gives simple, but efficient boosts: while active, it gives him invulnerability and increased physicality. With it, he can clear out entire crowds of enemies without breaking a sweat or sustaining damage. Handy for when they all want to dog-pile as a trump card. And while it can't counted as part of an official arsenal, there's nothing to stop Kiryu from wielding other weapons effectively, be it a melee tool or a firearm. Kiryu: Words isn't enough to though the kikes of you. So I'm show you...in my way. Sleepy: If it wasn't kept in mind, Kiryu is a hardened veteran Yakuza; he did survive being in prison for an entire decade, and he can beat up stronger and bulkier foes, such as Tsuyoshi Kanda, who can tear off stone from walls, and Aizawa, who can lift stone statues! Kiryu himself can also damage stone statues, as well as throw aside bulls! Kurai: He's kept up with foes like Goro Majima, and has dodged rockets and bullets. He's survived being thrown into cars, having girders, likely made of steel or iron, fall onto him, and even blows from Taiga Saejima, who can destroy boulders and has said to have knocked out a bear! He's even fit enough to sprint for long periods of time, and consistently takes on large hordes of foes without much difficulty. Sleepy: He's also like a pseudo-Taskmaster, as he can copy and memorize fighting styles through simple observation. Kinda superhuman, though this guy's already bordering that level of physical capacity and power anyway. What he isn't, though, is invincible. Kurai: He's still human, and has shown the vulnerabilities to prove so, time and time again; he's still susceptible to bullets, cuts, etc. Without Heat, he can't perform his Heat techniques, and the "Dragon Spirit" does run on a Heat limit. Sleepy: His fighting styles also have different weaknesses to balance out their stronger traits, and for a Yakuza, he's rather passive when it comes to beating his enemies: he's always shown mercy and never actually killed. Kurai: Well, it's called honour. He might be a criminal and a bit of an anti-hero, but you can't argue against what's made him into the man he is today. Kiryu: I can take another name, and build a new life.. But on the inside I'll always have that instinct, no matter how much I hate it. I'm yakuza through and through. Guile only gets you so far in this game Remember that. You won't get another chance. Pre-Fight Hosts' Booth Intro To Battle Miami, Daytime, Noon Tap, tap tap. The white dress shoes of Kazuma Kiryu made small sounds as he stepped along the sidewalk. Tap, tap, tap. They had a distinct noise, and if the foreigner that was commonly mistaken as a communist wasn't obvious enough, Kiryu was an outsider to the general populace of the crime-ridden Miami. Several bystanders and passerby's jeered, raised an eyebrow, backed away as he got close and or all three at once in sequence. "F**king Americans..." Kiryu uttered under his breath as he saw a police officer flip him off; he was tempted to cross the sidewalk and beat the officer senseless when a sigh told him of his location: NE 114th Place. "This is it, huh...?" He looked up at the luxurious residence with a bit of awe. "Definitely fits the climate of this damn city..." He glanced back and saw the dirty streets amidst a horizon of glamorous buildings: a contrast that was too foreboding to the hidden sins that lay underneath the city's approachable appearance. He used a palm to straighten his neck, then took a step forward when he saw a sight that cause him to frown: the front door was stained thick with blood from the corpses of the guards that lay dead before it; their faces were stuck in a gory awe, as if God himself had struck them dead instantly; their weapons lay loaded at their pale and cold hands, their white clothes a dark red from the amount of brain matter and blood oozing from their opened skulls. "What the hell...?!" The sounds of conflict from inside alerted Kiryu; the clang of steel and the feral cries of felines faintly tapped his eardrums. Tap, CLANG, NYAORRRRRR. He bolted into the mansion, closing the door behind him; a foreboding sense of dread and gentle curiosity is what formed his headspace as he walked through the halls with a stoic air of strength surrounding him. The sounds of conflict grew stronger and stronger, and the frequency of metal clanging increased as well. He saw excessive light from a peculiar room at the end of the hall pouring out of it's door, the shadow of something... unshapely swinging an object around like a baseball bat. He fidgeted with the piece of paper he had in his jacket pocket; it had told him where to locate the head of the Russian Mob in Miami, as he was seeking to secure a safe house within the city for emergencies that required international evacuation. It seems someone else had the same idea of locating the boss, though the other seeker was definitely not here for conducting business: they wanted blood. Kiryu peered into the room and the sight shocked him: a pair of panthers lay dead meters away from each other, their blood blanketing much of the floor as well as some of the intricate walls; blunt force seemed to be their killer, as was the apparent man in a letterman jacket holding a bloody trophy and now fighting a knock-off samurai lady. Kiryu hid all but his eyes as he observed in silence the ongoing struggle. Despite the samurai's skill and agility, the man in the letterman with strange hair deflected her katana, then knocked her down to the ground with a bash to the back; he kicked at her stomach, then stomped down on her back, forcing her down further before grabbing her by the hair and slamming her face into the floor multiple times, with no hesitation whatsoever. Kiryu was narrowed his eyes at this. 'Who's this guy? What's he doing here?' He pondered; he then had a moment to react as the mob boss, sat on his chair and indifferent to the deaths of his pets and bodyguard, pulled out two machine guns and opened fire; Kiryu hid as bullets flew out of the door. However, the bursts stopped after a moment, causing the Yakuza to peek out once more. He had enough time to bear witness as the mob boss shot himself, right in front of the would-be assassin. "Okay enough with this..." He stepped out from behind the wall and into the room. Tap. Tap. Tap. Jacket turned around and found a new man standing behind him. "Alright, what's your business here?" The newcomer challenged. "DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS...?" These menacing words spoken by an unseen robotic voice echoed with utmost pernicious intent. Kiryu took a fighting stance out of instinct as Jacket raised his trophy and aimed it at his newest enemy. He titled his head, his rooster mask's eye sockets showing nothing, but apathy and disguised destruction. FIGHT!!!